Janeane Nicole Anderson*, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States Track: Research Presentation Topic: Ethical & legal issues, confidentiality and privacy Presentation Type: Oral presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: Sheraton Maui Resort Room: C - Napili Date: 2014-11-14 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM Last modified: 2014-09-04

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Background: The murder of Cicely Bolden, an HIV-positive single mother, by her intimate partner as the result of her serostatus disclosure sparked a flurry of online commentary about whether or not her murder was justified. Social media websites like YouTube provided laypeople with a platform to debate the appropriate assignments of blame and, at the same time, became an avenue for the dissemination of HIV myths and misinformation, disease-related stigma, and stereotypes about African-American female sexuality. Considering the gender-specific dangers of HIV disclosure for women, unintended consequences of HIV criminalization and disclosure laws and heightened HIV stigma in African-American communities, examination of the role of social media in social norm maintenance has ethical implications for disease prevention and risk-reduction efforts.
Objective: The aim of the study is to highlight the potential ethical implications of social media-mediated communication on HIV-related disclosures, gender-based violence, and sexual norms by examining YouTube videos for evidence of stigma, stereotypes and retributive justice.
Methods: The YouTube search engine was searched for videos regarding the Cicely Bolden murder case, using case-relevant search terms (e.g., “Cicely Bolden”, “man kills woman for giving him HIV”). Twenty-two videos met inclusion criteria and were content analyzed. Each video was coded for general characteristics (e.g., video views, video likes and dislikes, video comments, length of video) as well as evidence of HIV stigma, African-American female stereotypes and retributive justice. Also, a grounded theory approach was employed to examine emergent themes from the videos.
Results: Results indicate the presence of HIV stigma, race-specific sexual stereotypes and calls for justice. Five themes emerged from the data, including assignments of blame, justifications for murder, derogatory name-calling and violence advocacy, sympathy for innocent victims, and methods of disease prevention.
Conclusion: Findings from this study suggest social media outlets may reify social norms (and sanctions) related to sexually transmitted diseases and help magnify dangers of HIV serostatus disclosure for women.